Essay

When I was diagnosed with MS last year, I knew immediately that I wanted to write about it. Placing words on a piece of paper is cathartic for me and I knew that the creative process would help me—and my family—heal. I also focus my journalism career on helping people share their stories so that...

A couple of months ago, I penned what turned out to be a somewhat contentious essay regarding my conflicted feelings about taking up skiing. On the one hand, I understood the potential social and psychological benefits of taking up Colorado’s unofficial state sport. On the other, I loathed the...

I am compelled to make lefse, the Norwegian tortilla-like potato flatbread—made mostly today by grandmothers, or descendants thereof, who are eager to keep the memory of the mother country alive. Made by my grandmother, lefse (pronounced “LEF-suh”) came in stacks, wrapped in foil, around...

On christmas morning during my sophomore year of high school, I eagerly peeked into my stocking. The oversize sock was heavy and full—a sure sign of abundance. Except, it wasn’t. Onions, lemons, and a lump of coal replaced the customary chocolates, fresh oranges, and beautifully wrapped gifts. I...

5280.com Exclusive: See a slideshow of images from the cottillion here. It started as many things do when you have kids, which is to say as an idea—emailed—from a savvy parent of one of our children’s friends: Would your son be interested in attending Cotillion training with my son? Cotillion...

It’s a fact that children inspire a sense of wonder and joyful awe in adults. Watching dandelion fluff disperse or seeing a frog’s throat expand with a two-year-old or a five-year-old is simply better than doing the same activity alone or with another adult. That’s the simple truth. As kids...

Most children dream of trips to Disney World or Six Flags, destinations more renowned for fun than for their educational value. Not me. My mother—a longtime feminist who in my youth probably was one of the few subscribers to Ms. Magazine in western North Dakota—was always determined that her four...